During transport, the surfaces and edges of glass and glass ceramic panels must be shielded against mutual contact and contact with hard objects, since scratches substantially diminish their resilience to shock and bending.
For example, glass ceramic panels typically sized from 20.times.40 cm to 50.times.100 cm are transported in reusable boxes containing app. 150 pieces each, with the panels standing upright. Mutual contact of the panels is thereby prevented in that air cushion foils--so-called "burled" foils--or cardboard strips are interposed. The air cushion foil covers the panel surface completely, while the cardboard strips only cover app. 10-20% of the surface.
In both cases, a relatively large amount of material which has to be disposed of is left after unpacking. Recycling of the air cushion foil is uneconomical, due to its high transport volume, the variety of its external forms and the low cost of the new product.
Detachable synthetic jambs present a further option, but they must be elaborately secured against displacement and are barely usable with panels with larger, extended radii.
However, due to their low volume and usability with all panels not having radii, synthetic jambs are reusable.
A transport rack for glass panels is known from the DE 41 29 058 C1, comprising a warp-resistant base, wherein horizontal mounting ledges for upright arrangement of the glass panels and clamping means acting upon the upper edges of the erect glass panels are provided, whereby rows of orthogonal support rods forming slide-in compartments for individual glass panels to be inserted from above are arranged on the base and a slider-shaped holding member is spring-fastened to each support rod in such manner that under initial stress it is also attachable to the upper edge of the glass panel inserted in the slide-in compartment associated with the respective support rod.
The manufacture of the transport rack according to DE 41 29 058 is costly, and the rack is relatively fragile due to its many moving parts.
During installation and assembly of the glass ceramic panels, e.g., in the frame of the cooking range, it is vital to ensure that the panel is deposited flexibly and free of tension. For this purpose, separators are glued into the frame prior to deposition of the panel.
These separators are foam material strips of 1 to 2 mm thickness having a surface dimension of app.5.times.10 mm, which are adhesive on one or both sides and of sufficient temperature stability. Two or three separators are applied to each side of the frame, whereby attention must be given to complete and precise positioning of the separators, since contact between the panel and the frame can cause damage resulting in a reduction of the firmness of the panel. In addition, a permanent elastic connection between the glass ceramic panel and the enclosing frame is needed to achieve the following:
stress-free mounting of the cooking surface in the enclosing frame; PA1 sealing of the upper side of the cooking surface against seepage of liquid into the space underneath containing live electrical components; and PA1 compensation of the elongation differences resulting from the differential thermal expansion of the frame material and the cooking surface during use.
This is presently achieved by appropriate positioning of the panel in the frame and by filling the gap with silicon adhesive.